News archive

Norwegian Karl Sondenaa spent a day at the International Tracing Service (ITS) at the end of May viewing original documents on his father´s imprisonment at the Buchenwald concentration camp. “It is incredible which details the Nazis registered,” he said.

Professor Rudolf Sarközi and Gerhard Baumgartner of the Cultural Association of Austrian Roma visited the International Tracing Service in mid-May and viewed documents on the fate of Austrian Sinti and Roma. “We wanted an overview of the specific information we could find here,” said both representatives.

Julius Edmundson could have gradually started thinking about a quiet life after retiring in his early 60s.&nbsp;But the prospect of more time and quiet awakened his long-held desire to learn more about his heritage. Edmundson traveled to Europe with his daughter Lara seeking clues to his past. “I always felt a little...

Waltraud Burger spent two days at the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen doing research to reconstruct names on rows of gravestones in cemeteries at the former POW camp in Ziegenhain, today known as Trutzhain. “It is important to clarify where the POWs are buried. The relatives need a place to mourn,”...

32 University of Bamberg students toured the International Tracing Service (ITS) archive in Bad Arolsen today to learn about opportunities in research and archive administration. “The opening of the archive was a stroke of good luck for research and therefore also for universities,” said Horst Gehringer, excursion...

While the international meeting of Red Cross Societies was being held at the Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen, the Israeli Susan Edel researched into traces of her ancestors in Hesse on 28 April. She viewed records and files at the ITS archives and went to visit the Jewish cemetery of Breitenbach. “I am impressed...

Kassel´s Regierungspräsident (Regional Commissioner) Lutz Klein visited the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen on April 27, 2009, where he viewed the archive´s collections and spoke with director Jean-Luc Blondel and chief archivist Udo Jost. “The ITS is still as indispensable and sought-after an...

The Foundation of memorial sites in Lower Saxony organised a three-days workshop at the International Tracing Service (ITS) late in April. The aim of the workshop was to familiarize the staff of the memorial sites in Lower Saxony with the archival holdings of the ITS and to show them the collection’s research...

Corinna Fürstaller, a history student at Karl Franzens University in Graz, Austria, spent several days in late April at the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen doing research for her thesis on Lebensborn homes in Austria.&nbsp;“I was impressed by the number of documents the ITS has on the topic of...

Senior teacher Marion Möller returned to the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen for the sixth time in early April to research the history of the north Hessian county seat Korbach under National Socialism. “I have had contact to the ITS since the opening of the archive, and I´m grateful for their...